


Gabriel O'Malley Has Met His Match

by DeviantDarkBelle



Series: January '20 writing prompts [8]
Category: The Dead Don't Die (2019), The Kitchen (2019)
Genre: Decapitation, Knife Kink, Kylux - Freeform, Kylux Adjacents, M/M, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:10:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22328584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeviantDarkBelle/pseuds/DeviantDarkBelle
Summary: Day Eight - Need some help?After Claire's passing, Gabriel needed to get away from Hell's Kitchen and NYC in general.He packed up his car and jumped in, driving until something compelled him to stop.A little snippet of how Gabriel O'Malley and Officer Ronald Peterson met.(I love this pairing, I can't help myself!)
Relationships: Gabriel O'Malley/Ronald Peterson (The Dead Don't Die)
Series: January '20 writing prompts [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600465
Kudos: 11





	Gabriel O'Malley Has Met His Match

**Author's Note:**

> Please excuse my improper grammar and punctuation as well as tense drifts.
> 
> Thank you for reading!

Claire had seemed to dictate Gabriel’s decisions, even though she never had a clue. She wasn’t behind his decision to leave New York in the first place, but she had been the reason he came back, the reason he stayed. The reason he left again.

After everything, Gabriel O’Malley wanted a simple, peaceful life. Previous employers were dead, and his most recent ones understood. He had no reason to fear them, as they had no reason to fear him.

He had saved a ton of money, he had stockpiles before, but once things started with Claire, it only grew. Now without her, he could start new. He wouldn’t have to work right away, wouldn’t have to fall into old habits. He could find a town to settle down in, maybe eventually get a job and permanent place to live, and perhaps, someone to love.

He knew that last part was foolish.

He got into his new car, stocked up on essentials, packed his bags and drove. He had no set destination, no timeline to stick to. He was free to carve out his own place in the world.

It took him a while to realize how far he had actually traveled. He seemed to have left the big city and the craziness of Hell’s Kitchen behind.

Centerville.

It seemed like a good place to stop. At least for the night, or perhaps longer.

He stopped at a corner store to fill the tank and to get some information from the locals.

But the locals seemed, odd. Almost suspicious of Gabriel’s arrival. He paid it no mind and started to think that this stop would just be temporary. For one night only.

Gabe went to settle up with the clerk before the perked up and called out behind Gabe.

“Officer Peterson.”

Gabriel froze suddenly, his past and the dismembered bodies flashed through his mind. Maybe _that_ was why everyone looked at him funny.

He slowly turned, words ready on his tongue just in case, but he was rendered speechless when he saw the officer. So very different from the cops in New York, so different from the FBI agents. Gabriel never thought a man in uniform was hot, but that was then. This is now.

Tall, dark hair, glasses that suited him and a uniform that was desperately trying to stay together.

“Just passing through?” The officer asked and Gabriel felt his knees buckle. Thankfully he caught himself in time.

“Not sure yet. Thought about staying the night and then go from there.” The officer’s gaze was intense and the normally calm, cool and collected Gabriel started to crack.

“Follow me. I will show you where the motel is…”  
“I am sure I can find it myself…”  
“You’ll follow me,” Peterson said and turned on his heel and only looked back to see if Gabriel was following him. Which then, Gabe did.

Gabriel O’Malley didn’t need a police escort to a motel, but this Officer Peterson had been so insistent. It also became even more ridiculous when the motel was on the same road, just ten minutes down the road. Officer Peterson was an odd one.

“Thank you, Officer” Gabe called out as he got out of his car and made his way to the motel manager’s office.

“I’ll come by later, to make sure you’re settled in.” 

Who was this guy? It was sweet but Gabe had taken down men larger and much more dangerous than him.

“That’s not necessary.”  
“I insist.”

Gabriel chose not to respond and just let the officer finally let him be. Had he gone through some sort of wormhole along the way? Had he stepped through a portal and was none the wiser? Gabe thought he was in crazy town, or at least, some other dimension.

The manager was nice and a lot more normal than the others had been. He unpacked his car and settled in for the night. It had been a long day. It had been a long few months.

But he couldn’t get Officer Peterson out of his head.

He must have fallen asleep as when he came to, the room was dark and the TV station was just static. He heard shouts and bangs from outside, but that was none of his business. Some habits die hard.

The shouts, well, more like mumbles, seemed to be inching closer to his room. He thought it was just kids playing pranks, or drunken fools messing around… but he was wrong. The banging soon started on his door. He reached for his gun and patted the blade he kept against his person. 

The door flung open and Gabriel gaped at the scene unfolding in front of him. He had heard stories but those had always been fiction, had been plots of movies and TV shows. 

But then he saw the young clerk from the gas station, then the motel manager who had been so kind and human and alive… only a few hours prior.

Gabriel took aim and began to shoot at the intruders, the undead, but nothing seemed to stop them. “The head. You have to kill the head!” He heard a familiar voice yell out and Gabriel took that advice. Not much damage could be done with a simple handgun, but it slowed them down… and just enough for Officer Peterson to catch up and decapitate them.

The man was skilled with a machete and Gabriel knew he had met his match.


End file.
